Sighs......My fish butts experience!

[mermaid Syrean]

Hi Everyone okay so I thought I’d make a new thread about Fish Butts to see if anyone has heard any news/ updates or just wants to vent!

Okay so back in December of last year I ordered a full silicone mermaid tail from Stephanie. I was a returning customer and supported her through her tough time. BUT seriously after 8 months of waiting with false emails saying “your tail will be shipped to you in two weeks (on April 30th) she then blocked my email address and my FaceBook account. So I have filed a payment dispute through my credit card company explaining that she has taken my money with no intention of creating my tail! Basically she refused to confirm that she had spent my money on the supplies to create my tail and said after 6 months she hadn’t even started it! So to put it in short I’m angry and disappointed!

So my advice for all you out there in my situation if you are under the (150 days waiting time period) print out all your conversation with her and well as your PayPal invoices and transaction processes and dispute it through your credit card company because PayPal won’t do anything because they has a 45 day dispute time period.

*Sighs* So please if anyone has received their tails or pictures since her last FaceBook status saying she would be releasing them I would love to hear it because maybe she is working on them but as far as I am concerned she is still taking orders on her website (http://www.fish-butts.com/) and creating a tail For Traci Hines rather than focusing on the back ordered tails. To me she’s not concerned with correcting this problem, I feels she’s just given up on these orders and gone back to work full time and won’t start the tails because she has used the money for her (livelihood) rather than materials for the tails themselves.

I don’t want people to feel I’m bad mouthing her because truly I’m not I just expressing my frustration and my thoughts on the problem at hand!

On a happier note I have ordered a new tail from Merbellas :P I have put my all in this tail and “spared no expense” *YAY Jurassic Park reference* Raven has been wonderful and very helpful and I wish I had gone to her first so I wouldn’t have had to deal with this horrible situation I have been wanting to start my own mermaid entertaining business down here in Australia for the longest time and now thanks to Raven hopefully by next year I will be able to start a following because we don’t have many Professional mermaids here in Australia :D

So please feel free to talk about your thoughts and feelings and maybe together we can help one another to recover from this terrible mess

.oO Mermaid Bubbles Oo.

<3

[Blondie]

I really wasn't planning on posting this. But since people have been cheated out of their money... I feel like it's the right thing to do.

So, I don't talk to Stevi personally but I am friends with her on facebook and I follow her Vine. I don't "creep" on her but I do look at her posts and videos as they come up on my news feed. This summer, Stevi opened a new Etsy store. She's been making "stripper bottoms" and "thongs". Not that there isn't anything wrong with that. And I totally understand opening a separate store like this away from her Fish Butt's business. But, as I watch her Vines, whenever she is sewing, she is making these bottoms. Never any tails. It sort of irks me that she's working on another project. She could really just finish her tails, quit her business, and everything could be over.

She wouldn't have to be harassed, she wouldn't have to be talked about like this, and she wouldn't have anymore mermaid stress. If she just finished these few orders and ended Fish Butts. It's been over a year now that she's been dealing with "problems". I do see she is going through things. She was in a recent car accident and lost her car. She seems to be fine though from her Vines. I feel like an ass for saying this but, her boyfriend break up has been long in the past. It's going on a year now. I do not have sympathy for people who cannot put the past behind them. I know relationships are intimate but there is a line. You cannot let something like that hold you back forever.

Anyway, here is her new Etsy store. I don't know if contacting her from that is a good idea or not. But here's the link anyways.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/DesignsByJaneJones?ref=si_shop

[Mermaid Jessica]

I ordered my partial silicone tail in November! And every time I message her about it, she just ignores me. I found out another mermaid ordered her's in December and after months of sucking up and reminding, she finally received it. But it was in poor shape. Patches of scales were missing and there were pet hairs embedded in the tail. It was carelessly made and rushed, even though she had months to make it. She's always posting excuses on her Facebook page about her computer breaking and having to buy a new one or she'll say she'll post pictures of tails later in the night and she never does. And she'll say that she won't be working on anything until she's caught up on the back ordered tails but then weeks later, instead of pictures of finished tails, she'll post pictures of new projects she's working on. I honestly think most of us won't ever be receiving our tails from her. But I'm sure it's too late to get my money back now.

[AniaR]

I think she's dug herself into a hole she can't get out of, alienated the friends she had in the mermaid community, and I don't think she can ever recover.

Eric and I have had our issues in the past, but one thing I will say for him is that as soon as he hit rock bottom he was doing all he could to get back out, mend relationships, and get tails out.

I don't agree with bullying someone and I felt like info about Stevi was being distorted back in January. But now, it's evident she has no plans to change. It's been well over a year. A friend of mine hasn't gotten any word on her tail for well over a year.

I also feel really bad for Rose, who took a chance and tried to help her friend. Her tail isn't in the best state (the blue one) and you can see that from her review. All that work to try and salvage the fishbutts company, and Stevi couldn't be bothered to even make HER a proper tail :(

[Fifi Tigg]

Grrrrrrrr it's soooo frustrating!! Just like you mermaid Sakura I bought a tail back in Dec too for my 8 year old daughter for Xmas but never got it! Opted for the refund as soon as it was offered and still have nothing!! I am now saving every penny for a Finfolk tail for summer maybe this time Emily will have her dream Xmas :)

[Merman Dan]

My first tail was a Fish Butts tail. I ordered it just before she started having backlog issues, apparently. Granted, the tail was too long and too big in the waist. I would like to support Stevi as well, but I would not order from her until things turn around. IMO, she needs a business manager. I have placed an order for a Finfolk tail, now.

[Mermaid Momo]

I Haven't ordered from her, But I was hoping that maybe, with all this talk going on, when you google fish butts, All of the threads here would show up or other people who have complained but sadly, none of it was on the first page and most people who may order from her most likely wouldn't go looking through the other pages.

[coral_sybil]

Do a youtube video of it, when I went and googled it, I had her facebook page, and her website, then it was an immediate list of review movies on youtube.

[Mermaid Momo]

Do a youtube video of it, when I went and googled it, I had her facebook page, and her website, then it was an immediate list of review movies on youtube.
I wonder why no one has made a bad review video yet? especially with all of the bad tails she's sent out and or tails that the people who bought never saw.

[MerEmma]

One or two people have.

[Mermaid Veruliya]

Yes I saw one about pet hairs embedded and sloppy scaling when I was watching merbellas unboxing videos.. Totally creeping haha

[coral_sybil]

Probably a lot just want their money back and don't think to do a video

[mermaid Syrean]

I completely agree with you Raina, Rose took so much time out of her life to respond to people emails that Stephanie “was too busy” to get too :P

And to completely rush a personal friends tail just shows how much she doesn’t care anymore!
It’s sad to see another mer-tail maker fall by the waist side!

[Anahita]

I really feel it seems like tail-makers just get so in over their heads... It takes a special type of person to do this kind of stuff (artistic I guess is a good way to describe it) and unfortunately, that personality type doesn't do so well under outside pressures and monotony. And often times they don't do well with foresight and planning. Merbellas has a cap on how many orders they will take, but it doesn't seem like very many other tail-makers do. (Not that I've seen at least)

I know, because I'm totally that personality type. I used to do historical costuming, not just for myself, but as a profession, and good lord, did I get dragged down by that....

Day in, day out, the same thing... making pretty things for other people that I'd never get to wear... I mean, I get tired of my own personal projects and often call quits on them as it is, so I have no idea what I was thinking doing it as a profession! (note to self: it's that lack of foresight trait)

However, I was entirely accountable for every project I took on. I always had the projects done on time for the event (although some fittings were not on schedule, but honestly, the few times that happened was because the client essentially FORCED themselves on me on a particular date despite me repeatedly stating I needed another week before they had anything to be fitted).

But it came down to the fact that I had a cut off limit of orders I would take, because I could always take more later if I had time, but I understood that I could not take more up front then cancel later on. I always updated my clients, and I always let them know what they were getting upfront. And most importantly, when I decided to quit and do something else, I finished all my prior obligations to my paying clients that I took on.

And really, that's what upsets me about the FishButts thing (That and her site is offering a summer sale and still taking orders instead of having a backlog disclaimer or something of the like). It's fine to get tired of something, it's fine to get worn out, it's fine to take up a side project, but it's not ok to take people's money, promise them something, and then never deliver because you're suddenly interested in something else/tired of your job. I'm not the most mature person in the world. I can be very childish and fickle about some things, but even I know that when you take someone's money in exchange for a service, you owe them what they paid for, regardless of your feelings towards it.

It's really sad to see this happen, because her tails were so pretty, but it's even sadder that so many people put so much money towards a tail and haven't anything/have something sub-par to show for it all this time later.

[New York Mermaid]

Don't get me wrong she is a friend, But it was my decision to distance myself from the company, Partially was personal issues/while the other half was time. Many of you know I do anything I can to help, which is probably where my downfall lies- I care too much and help people out and well it ends up bad sometimes. But even so, I began noticing quite a bit of slacking on her side (even though the moment i received an email i would contact her and she would let me know whats being done and what is in process. Which i would forward the information/update to the client.)

But when it came down to my tail, I gave her a specific date which it was needed for. I don't know how she rushed the tail and i received it 1 hour before that big event!! My issues have already been posted here:: http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?1773-Fish-Butts/page2

Its been just about 3/4 months and the tail continues to fall apart from fins to scales and I do what I can to salvage it until i can afford a new one. I fear that if i send it back i wont receive it till October, and I have quite a few parties between now and then. By the way I didint know of her etsy till Blondie's post. At this point I'm working on a slow save for a FinFolk or Merbellas tail, I'll re-update my tail look (Bluefish 2.0 lol). But considering I am currently Only doing mermaid jobs since i left my other job (they were severely cutting hours "to save money"), Unless I do a kick starter or something, It looks like my tail will be a few years away. This is one of those "I hate being an adult" moments when we have to pay bills and buy things in order to survive in this world. *sigh* I need a hug or some chocolate.

[JenG]

I contacted her back in October of 2012 regarding a Christmast gift for our then 10 year old daughter. She was very quick to respond and very accomodating with our color and style requests. Payment in full was made for a tail and matching top and we were promised we would have it by Christmas. Christmas came and went with no response to our emails. She did respond after the holiday with a myriad of excuses and made a new promise date of January 2013. She missed that date and 2 promise dates after that. She refused the refund request and said we would get our tail but we insisted on sending in new measurements. Since then, all of our emails and update requests have been ignored. My now 11 year old asks every day if her tail has come. October will be 1 year and we have no hope that we will ever see our purchases. We are going to try to pursue a refund through our bank. It makes me very angry to see that she has a new business. What a waste of my time and money.

[Mermaid Syrena]

Rose, that's so sucky. I know you've been sick and having a bit of a rough time lately. Remember: I'm here for you- we all are! I would swim over there to give you chocolate if I could! Milk, dark, or seasalt? ;)

[Mermaid~Summer]

Don't get me wrong she is a friend, But it was my decision to distance myself from the company, Partially was personal issues/while the other half was time. Many of you know I do anything I can to help, which is probably where my downfall lies- I care too much and help people out and well it ends up bad sometimes. But even so, I began noticing quite a bit of slacking on her side (even though the moment i received an email i would contact her and she would let me know whats being done and what is in process. Which i would forward the information/update to the client.)

But when it came down to my tail, I gave her a specific date which it was needed for. I don't know how she rushed the tail and i received it 1 hour before that big event!! My issues have already been posted here:: http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?1773-Fish-Butts/page2

Its been just about 3/4 months and the tail continues to fall apart from fins to scales and I do what I can to salvage it until i can afford a new one. I fear that if i send it back i wont receive it till October, and I have quite a few parties between now and then. By the way I didint know of her etsy till Blondie's post. At this point I'm working on a slow save for a FinFolk or Merbellas tail, I'll re-update my tail look (Bluefish 2.0 lol). But considering I am currently Only doing mermaid jobs since i left my other job (they were severely cutting hours "to save money"), Unless I do a kick starter or something, It looks like my tail will be a few years away. This is one of those "I hate being an adult" moments when we have to pay bills and buy things in order to survive in this world. *sigh* I need a hug or some chocolate.

I don't have any chocolate but here's a Mermaid Hug! :hug:

[Merman Dan]

I need a hug or some chocolate.

Chocolate Chip Sea Star (http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=497+528+2967&pcatid=2967) okay?

http://kimsmarinebio.weebly.com/uploads/1/6/8/0/16803110/7146563_orig.jpg

[New York Mermaid]

Rose, that's so sucky. I know you've been sick and having a bit of a rough time lately. Remember: I'm here for you- we all are! I would swim over there to give you chocolate if I could! Milk, dark, or seasalt? ;)

Yeah But im not letting it get me down, ohh Milk chocolate please, but just a tiny piece.


Chocolate Chip Sea Star (http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=497+528+2967&pcatid=2967) okay?

lol Cute but I think cookies would be good, instead.

[Merrow Erie]

I'm in the 'I hate being an adult' boat too. I don't have a tail at all, and between college and rent, it doesn't look like that will be changing any time soon.

[OrcaMatt]

http://mernetwork.com/index/attachment.php?attachmentid=13567&d=1376354432

[Meridian Mer-Gyver]

I am not the admin of this page, it was started yesterday and I totally support and back it! If you have been burned, ripped off, or left out to dry then join this group and lets make voice a pod of voice to be heard! Ps. You can also report their page as a scam, if a company is continuing to take money from its clients and NOT delivering on any promises, then it is a SCAM and its ILLEGAL

https://www.facebook.com/phishphanny